


Love Who You Wanna

by wholehearted



Series: Cody Family Fix-it Fics [3]
Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Care, Concern, Established Relationship, Family, Gentleness, Love, M/M, Music, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:10:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19462771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholehearted/pseuds/wholehearted
Summary: Deran wakes up alone and goes searching for Adrian.





	Love Who You Wanna

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the next installment of the _**Cody Family Fix-it Fics**_ series. I can't seem to stop myself, but to be honest, I'm not really trying. Lol. The fics are meant to be read in succession (makes the most sense that way), but it's okay to read them all as stand-alones.
> 
> This fic and title are inspired by lyrics from OAR's [California](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0UdI2It6Zs).
> 
> This is for @adrideran. One of the coolest people in this lovely fandom. 😘
> 
> Betaed by caitlesshea. Thank you sweets! 😍
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! ❤️

Deran wakes up in the middle of the night and reaches across the bed. It’s more of a habit than anything else. He knows Adrian isn’t in bed with him. He felt the mattress shift when he left. 

That must’ve been hours ago now. 

He gets up and listens to the quietness in the house. Deran can’t hear anything, not the muffled sound of the tv, not food being prepared in the kitchen, not the clacking of keys on a keyboard. 

Deran shakes his head a bit and scrubs his hand down his face. He grabs a pair of shorts off the floor. He can’t even remember if they’re his or Adrian’s anymore, he’s lost track at this point. 

He wanders down the hallway, listening for any indications of movement. He immediately heads toward the room where he typically finds Adrian. The room that has two corner windows, providing an unmatched view of the ocean. The spot reflects ambient light off the waves at night, and the glittering sun off the water during the day. Deran knows there’s a chair in that room where Adrian really likes to sit and look out across the spanse of the sea. 

He’s done this for awhile now. It used to freak Deran out at first. Waking up in an empty bed and not knowing where Adrian was. After several worried instances of searching the house, he would find Adrian in this small room, rocking in the chair, usually a blanket on his lap. So these days, when he wakes to an empty bed, he immediately heads there.

He quietly steps on the hardwoods and approaches the open door. He doesn’t cross the threshold, just stands there as he sees Adrian sitting with his back toward the door, facing the ocean. The ocean, the first home either of them had ever known...before finding one another. Deran can’t imagine living anywhere but near the water. There’s nothing that soothes him, eases him, makes sense to him like the sea...well, except Adrian. 

Deran leans his shoulder against the door jam and watches Adrian’s shadowed form. In the deep quiet of this moment he hears a barely audible hum and softly whispered words. Deran’s heart clenches. He’s seen Adrian do this countless times over the last year, but it twists something inside him when he finds Adrian like this—in the dark, the melody gently rumbling from him. 

**_Early in the morning you'll remember all the words just right_ **

**_If you never wanna be a silhouette you’ve got to find your light_ **

Deran closes his eyes and listens more intently. This song has always been beautiful, but it has become even more powerful to them over the last 13 months. 

**_Eh, For forty days and forty nights_ **

**_You lie awake, I know you cry_ **

**_But dreaming in your room isn't ever going to get it done_ **

**_Yeah you got to walk before you run_ **

Deran’s breath catches a little as he hears the words he’s heard a thousand times before. 

**_So call me when your close and you feel them city lights_ **

**_Don’t let the voices in your head talk to you, know they tell you lies_ **

**_Yeah, for a hundred days, a hundred years_ **

**_Yeah, there'll be demons, yeah there'll be fears_ **

**_One day you're gonna look back how far you've gone_ **

**_But you better walk before you run_ **

He opens his eyes to see Adrian’s head bent, Deran watches as Adrian swipes at his eyes. That’s all Deran needs to see. He moves quickly to sit by Adrian’s side, perched on the arm of the chair, his hand resting on a warm muscled shoulder. Deran leans into Adrian, feeling their combined body heat. There’s an immediate sense of ease that washes over him just sharing space together. 

Adrian doesn’t seem startled at all by Deran’s presence, they’ve done this routine so many times before it’s almost rote at this point, though it’s not at all mindless. Each time they come together in this way it’s thoughtful, purposeful, powerful. 

Adrian continues to sing and Deran leans down to kiss that reddish hair. Eyes closed, that face is perfect, sweet, irresistible. The astonishingly blue eyes behind those lids are like something out of this world. They’re so unique and exceptional he doesn’t even have the words to describe them fully. 

Deran wipes the wetness forming at the edges of his own eyes, and he sings along with Adrian. 

**_Hey son, go to California_ **

**_Dance with the angels_ **

**_Dress how you wanna_ **

**_Anyway, just like the river starts with the raindrop_ **

**_You'll make it better_ **

The ebb and the flow of the ocean emphasizes the lyrics as they sing to their baby son. 

Cameron Dolan Cody is the most amazing creature. Just over a year old and happy as can be. 

Deran will forever be grateful Jess agreed to donate an egg so they could have a child that was half him and half Adrian. They’d paid a hefty price for a surrogate but it was well worth it. Deran would’ve paid twice that to have the family they have now. 

Adrian has developed a habit of holding their son late at night and singing to him. Adrian loves to snuggle Cameron close and serenade him with the gentle words neither one of them had heard much when growing up.

Adrian is the absolute best father. He’s gentle and patient. Attentive and responsive. He keeps track of all milestones and doctor's appointments. He’s the one who’d gotten Deran to read parenting books and transform this room into a nursery, full of play and exploration, all geared to stimulate a developing brain. Neither one of them had stellar examples of parenting, but they are figuring it out. They are dedicated to giving their kid opportunities and attention that they never had. But most of all they want to give their boy a safe home that’s filled with love. It’s funny, Deran is the one who can calm Cameron, faster than anyone. He never has any idea what he’s doing, but when their baby is sick or fussy, Deran never fails to get him to settle down. He and Adrian joke that Deran is the baby whisperer. He’ll proudly take that title any day of the week. 

So, as Deran sits next to his husband, gently rubbing their son’s tuft of red hair, he feels like the luckiest man alive. He watches the baby sleep and sings along to the unconventional lullaby that somehow fits for their family. 

**_Hey son, go to California_ **

**_Live with the angels_ **

**_Love who you wanna_ **

**_Anyway, you'll know I'll miss ya_ **

**_Call if ya want ta_ **

**_Anytime you need a hand now,_ **

**_I'll be there now, just like I taught ya_ **

**_Anyway, who says you can't go_ **

**_Where you wanna_ **

**_California_ **

Deran shifts his hand to Adrian’s face. His husband looking up at him. Even in the early morning hours Adrian’s freckled face captivates him, those blue eyes somehow twinkling, even with nearly imperceptible light. 

  
Deran breathes a sigh of happiness and contentment as he wipes the tears of joy from his husband’s eyes. Their lips brushing together just before they turn back to gaze at their son and finish singing OAR’s  _ California _ . 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read. 😊
> 
> Come find me on tumblr (same username) and let's chat!


End file.
